Pneumatic goods withdrawal with turning apparatus



at 21, 1969 J. SCHEEL 3,473,350

PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL WITH TURNING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1964 7 Sheets-Sheet Fig.7

I .\'X 'ENTOR. JURGEN SCHEEL @333. 21, 1969 J. SCHEEL 3,473,350

PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL wnn TURNING APPARATUS Filed April 3, 1964 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2

INVESTOR JURGEN SCHEEL ATT RNEY Oct. 21, 1969 J. SCHEEL 3,473,350

PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL WITH TURNING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1964 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 JURGEN SCHEEL BY v ZWW+ W ATTO NEYS.

0d. 21, 1969 J. SCHEEL 3,473,350

PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL WITH TURNING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1964 7 Sheets-Sheet Figb J. SCHEEL SAWBfiSQ PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL WITH TURNING APPARATUS flat. m, 1969 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 9, 1964 Fig.5

INVENTOR JURGEN SCHEEL f AT ORN YS.

@cft, 211, 1969 J. SCHEEL 3,473,359

PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL WITH TURNING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1964 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 AT ORN 5.

Filed April 9, 1964 J. SCHEEL PNEUMATIC GOODS WITHDRAWAL WITH TURNING APPARATUS Fig. 7

m E: rrw Ci A" 1/11 I 7Q] m i i i 1 1 o $4 R 000 X 000 GOO 000 N GOO GOO GOO INYENTOR.

JURGEN SCHEEL v ,CXJMIMU v 1 7C United States Patent ILS. Cl. 66149 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Process and apparatus for knitting seamless tubes. In the knitting process, threads are knit into a seamless tube about the periphery of a hollow knitting tube to form a length of knitted seamless tube, and as the seamless tube is knit, the knitted goods pass to within the hollow knitting tube. The knitted tube is conveyed to by air stream as it is knit, so that the knitted tube moves inwardly and upwardly with respect to said upper periphery, and into a conduit disposed over the hollow knitting tube, In movement of the seamless tube from the upper periphery into said conduit, it is turned inside out. The airstream for the conveyance is produced during knitting of the first portion of the seamless tube by aspirating air from said upper periphery, and thereafter, i.e., during knitting of the balance of the seamless tube, by compressed air directed into the lower open end of siad conduit. The conduit which receives the seamless tube can be combined with a knitting dial, and the assembly can be pivot mounted so that it can conveniently be moved from a first position for normal operation, and a second position which permits access to the upper portion of the knitting tube.

The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for the withdrawal and tensing with the simultaneous turning of circular-knit tubular goods, especially stockings, with the use of compressed air or aspirated air, as desired.

In circular knitting machines for the manufacture of the manufacture of seamless fine hosiery, the stocking is drawn downward through the cylinder by means of aspirated air or compressed air, and tensed during the knitting process. After the knitting process is ended, the stocking has to be turned for the purpose of cutting off any loose reinforcement threads and of sewing the toe of the stocking, this being done in a separate operation, either by hand or by the goods withdrawing means when the finished stocking is ejected.

A number of systems have become known, by which the stocking is turned subsequently to the knitting process and leaves the circular knitting machine in the turned state. An additional, narrower tube is placed for this purpose in the goods withdrawal tube (Italian Patents 556,014 and 558,876), so that the stocking is first drawn into the space between the inside tube and the withdrawal tube. Then the stocking toe, which has been dropped off the needles, and thereafter the entire stocking, is aspirated into the upper opening of the inside tube, and thus the stocking is turned. In another system (French Patent 1,222,893) the stocking is first aspirated into a narrower goods withdrawal tube and, after it is knocked off the needles, it is turned inside out over the bottom end of this tube by reversing the air current, whereby the stocking is turned. Another reversal of the air current brings about the transport of the stocking into the goods collecting container.

These known systems have the disadvantage that, at the time the stocking is turned, it has to be gathered in order to be reversed into the tube, or has to be spread to be reversed over the tube, as the case may be. Since this "ice step is performed rapidly, without any great interruption of the production of the machine, faulty turning frequently occurs, or the clogging of the suction tube, especially when the inner tube has a small diameter.

By the present invention these disadvantages are avoided in that a reversal of the direction of withdrawal takes place right in the upper portion of the needle cylinder, so that the knitted article is stretched upward and withdrawn in a goods guiding tube disposed in an upstanding position over the cylinder, a continuous turning of the tubular work, taking place simultaneously during the knitting. To tense the tubular work, either aspirated air is used in a known manner before and after the reversal of the direction of withdrawal, or, by means of compressed air flowing from the cylinder up into the goods guiding tube, an aspirated air current is produced in the downwardly directed portion of the withdrawal means and a blow air current is produced in the upwardly directed portion of the withdrawal means. For this reason, the cylinder either is closed at the top by a deflecting cone, or it is provided with a blowing nozzle disposed in its upper portion.

The dial shaft is constructed in the form of a thinwalled goods guiding tube. By this invention it is brought about that the stocking is continuously and gradually turned during the knitting process, thus avoiding trouble in the turning. Furthermore, the frame height of the machine no longer depends on the length of the stocking as withdrawn, so that elevated operating platforms, such as those which are required nowadays on many circular knitting machines having elevated frames to permit the stocking to be pulled straight on its entire length, are no longer required.

Further details of the invention will now be described with the aid of the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows in section the needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine with the looping parts and a withdrawal device of the invention, operating on aspirated air.

FIG. 2 shows the invention as in FIG. 1, but in a modified embodiment using compressed air.

FIGS. 3a and 3b show the withdrawing device of FIG. 1 with the dial raised and with the dial lowered.

FIGS. 4a and 4b show schematically the entire goods withdrawal system of the embodiment in FIG. 1 during the knitting process and during the ejection of the finished stocking.

FIG. 5 shows schematically the goods withdrawal system of the embodiment in FIG. 2 during the knitting or ejection of the finished stocking.

FIG. 6 shows schematically the good withdrawal system of the embodiment in FIG. 2, but using aspirated air for the welt and compressed air for the remaining portion of the stocking.

FIG. 7 shows schematically a common goods withdrawal apparatus of the invention for a plurality of machines.

FIG. 1 shows in detail the upper portion of a circular knitting machine for the manufacture of seamless stockings, with the needle cylinder 3, the latch needles 4, and the sinkers 6. Above the cylinder 3 there is disposed the dial 9 with the transfer jacks 7 and the dial cap 8. The dial shaft 1 is made in the form of a goods guiding tube and is given an appropriately large outside diameter. The dial cap 8 is held, and the dial shaft 1 with the driving gear 11 fastened to it is rotatably mounted, in a known manner, in a bearing arm 10 which can pivot about a hinge-joint 13 (FIG. 3). The bottom extremity of the dial shaft 1 is made in the form of a conical flange 12 upon which the dial 9 is fastened and rotates together with dial shaft 1. In the upper portion of the needle cylinder there is disposed a deflecting cone 2 which closes the bore of the cylinder. This deflecting cone 2 is so constructed that it forms the counterpart of flange 12 of the dial shaft 1, and an annular, downwardly directed interstice 2' is left between flange 12 and deflecting cone 2. If air is aspirated through the dial shaft 1, the knitted article developing at th needles 4 is first withdrawn into the downwardly directed interstice 2'. After a certain number of rows the tubular work has achieved suflicient length and enters into the dial shaft 1, which is constructed as a goods guiding tube and in which the stocking is drawn constantly higher by the aspirated air as the knitting process continues. At the same time, due to the change in the direction of withdrawal, which at first was downward but then became upward in the goods guiding tube 1, the stocking is continuously turned, so that the side of the tubular material which faced the needles during the knitting process is turned inward. Since this turning is performed quite gradually, row by row, in conjunction with the withdrawal tension that is necessary for the knitting process, faulty turning, such as frequently occurs in the known turning systems, is excluded.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the invention, in which compressed air rather than aspirated air is used for the withdrawal and tensing, the said compressed air being fed through the needle cylinder 3 from below. In the upper portion, therefore, of needle cylinder 3 there is disposed a blowing nozzle 21 through which the compressed air enters into the goods guiding tube 1. In the downwardly directed interstice 2' between flange 12 and nozzle 21 a suction is thereby produced, which brings about the withdrawal of the first portion of the goods from the needles until the tube is so Ion that it enters into the goods guiding tube 1 and is seized by the compressed air.

The raising of the dial for occasional repairs is by no means hampered by the withdrawal system of the invention.

FIG. 3a shows by way of example a circular knitting machine with a withdrawal system according to FIG. 1, in which the dial is raised. For this purpose, as shown also in FIG. 3b, the coupling tube is pushed up into the suction tube 16 and held in this position by means of a setscrew 14 or in some other appropriate manner. Then the dial can be pivoted about pin 13 in the customary manner, Vice versa, by sliding the coupling tube 15 downward, the suction tube 16 is re-connected with the rotating goods guiding tube 1 by the fact that the coupling tube 15 is simply dropped into a mufl 1' rotating with the goods guiding tube 1, and is locked by the setscrew 14.

FIGURES 4a and 4b show schematically the arrangement of a pneumatic withdrawal system of the invention using aspirated air. During the knitting of the stocking, valve 19 is in the position shown in FIG. 4a, and air is aspirated by blower through tube 23 and directly through suction tube 16 and coupling tube 15. In FIG, 4b, the valve 19 is reversed: the air is aspirated through the goods box 18 and tube 22, so that the finished stocking thrown off by the needles 4 passes into the goods box.

FIG. 5 shows the overall arrangement of the withdrawal system of the invention according to FIG. 2, with the use of compressed air. Through the tube 24, which is introduced from below into the machine frame 17 and cylinder 3, the blower 20 blows air through the nozzle 21, the said air passing through tube 16 directly into the goods box 18 in which the ejected stockings are held back while the air can escape. To increase the suction effect at the needles when the initial rows and the welt are knitted, aspirated air can be used at first, and then, when the tubular work enters into the goods guiding tube 1, compressed air can be used.

In FIG. 6 an installation of this kind is shown in which the valve 19 is set for aspiration. The air passes through the goods box 18, tube 22, valve 19 and tube 23 to the blower 20, and is ejected from the latter through tube 24 and valve 19 into the open air, The compression line 25 is shut off. If the valve 19 is switched over to blowing, the air is blown through tube 25, while the aspiration line 4 23 is shut off from tube 22. The compressed air escapes through the lid 18' of the goods box 18 or through .1 valve provided especially for the purpose, which is not shown here, and which opens at overpressure and closes at underpressure.

FIG. 7 shows a goods withdrawal system using compressed air, a plurality of machines being connected to a common compression line 24. In like manner, the finished stockings are carried off through a trunk pipeline 16 into a common goods box 18.

I claim:

1. In a process of knitting seamless tubes wherein threads are knit into a seamless tube about the upper periphery of a hollow knitting tube to form a length or knitted seamless tube and as the seamless tube is knit, the knitted goods pass to within the hollow knitting tube. the improvement which comprises conveying the knitted tube with an air stream as it is knit inwardly and upwardly of said upper periphery and into a conduit disposed over the hollow knitting tube and having an open lower end disposed inwardly and adjacent said upper periphery to withdraw and turn the seamless tube as it is being knit, said air stream being produced during knitting of the first portion of said length by aspirating air from said upper periphery, and thereafter by compressed air directed into said open lower end of said conduit, the compressed air being off during said knitting of the first portion.

2. In a knitting machine for knitting seamless tubes, wherein threads are knit into a seamless tube about the upper periphery of a knitting tube with needles mounted on the hollow knitting tube and reciprocated axially thereof to provide knitting action, the knitting tube being hollow to receive the seamless tube therein as it is knit, the improvement which comprises a conduit having .1 lower open end disposed adjacent said upper periphery of knitting tube, means disposed between said upper periphery of the knitting tube and the lower end of said conduit defining an annular passageway for travel of the seamless tube from the upper periphery to said lower open end of said conduit, and means for providing flow of air through said annular passageway and into the conduit from the lower open end thereof to withdraw and turn the seamless tube as it is being knit, a dial for the knitting disposed adjacent the upper periphery of the knitting tube. said dial being mounted on said conduit, said conduit and dial being included in a dial assembly, a frame for the knitting machine, said dial assembly being pivotally mounted on said frame and thereby being movable with respect to said knitting cylinder to permit access to the upper periphery thereof, a pipe for communication with the upper end of said conduit to receive air and seamless tubes therefrom with the dial assembly in place with respect to the upper periphery of the knitting cylinder said pipe including a section in direct communication with the conduit, with the dial assembly in place on the knitting cylinder, said section being moveable between a first position in which it is in said direct communication with said conduit and a second position in which it is raised into telescoped relation with the portion of said pipe immediately above said pipe section and permits pivoting of the dial assembly on said pivot mounting for said access to the upper periphery of the cylinder.

3. In a knitting machine for knitting seamless tubes, wherein threads are knit into a seamless tube about the upper periphery of a knitting tube with needles mounted on the hollow knitting tube and reciprocated axially thereof to provide knitting action, the knitting tube being hollow to receive the seamless tube therein as it is knit, the improvement which comprises a conduit having a lower open end disposed inwardly of and spaced from said upper periphery of knitting tube, and means for providing flow of airt for conveying the seamless tube from said upper periphery to withdraw and turn the seamless tube as it is being knit, alternately by air aspirated from the upper periphery of said knitting tube and by compressed air directed into the lower end of the conduit.

4. In a knitting machine for knitting seamless tubes, wherein threads are knit into a seamless tube about the upper periphery of a knitting tube with needles mounted on the hollow knitting tube and reciprocated axially thereof to provide knitting action, the knitting tube being hollow to receive the seamless tube therein as it is knit, the improvement which comprises a conduit having a lower open end disposed inwardly of and spaced from said upper periphery of the knitting tube, a blower in communication with said conduit via a discharge means disposed adjacent and spaced from the lower open end of the conduit for receiving air from the blower and introducing it as an air stream into the lower open end of said conduit, said blower also being in communication with said conduit for aspirating air from the upper periphery of the knitting tube and through said conduit, and valve means operatively interposed between said blower and said discharge means so that alternately the blower, with the valve closed, can aspirate air from the upper periphery of the knitting tube into the conduit, and, with the valve opened, can direct air into the lower open end of said conduit via said discharge means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RONALD FELDBAUM, Primary Examiner 

